Bentley

Look at my little man, almost nine months and acting like a toddler. This last week has been quite an adventure here at our house. Bentley got his first real fever, it went up crazy fast from 101.1 to 103, peaking at 104. I did everything I could think of to help him stay comfortable, I applied damp towels to his head and neck (which went over very well ;) )  put his damp socks on, stripped him down, gave him a bath and we cuddled to a movie, which worked well until fell asleep and then he would wake up whimpering. Since then we have had a difficult time sleeping. Last night he woke up at 740, 940,1230,330, I went back down stairs at 440 and he got me up at 630. It's a good thing he's so cute. We went to the doctor for his 9 mo well-baby check up and they checked his fever, though it did more harm than good, riled him up, made him cry, gagged him with a tongue suppressor and I had to come back the next day after his fever subsided to get some vitamins, which is a long 40 minute drive both ways ha ha. Not that I'm complaining. I actually like our new doctor, he doesn't seem to evade questions or make things up, he tells me if he doesn't know what's up and he answers me as straightforwardly as he can. I just wish they were closer.

As I look at the above picture I see so much of his father in him, I still can't see any resemblance to me, which is fine, but he's just so adorable, a teeny tiny Jacob. He's usually pretty calm in his temperament, I think he gets his enthusiasm from me, if anything. He probably also gets his temper from me. We're both working on it. Although, usually, his wick is pretty slow, like his dad.

Speaking of his dad, we celebrated his birthday on Thursday. He had lots of schoolwork to do, which is rare for a Thursday, so I brought him some olive garden for lunch. We watched Merlin, opened presents and enjoyed some Oreo frosted cake. Bentley's favorite part was playing with dad's wrapping paper after it was off his gifts.

Bentley is also starting to point with his hand,  he points at the picture of Jesus, and he points at the mirror and he points in a room when I turn off the light. He recognizes names too. I can ask him "Where's Daddy?" and he will look for him, albeit rather non-aggressively, if he can't see him right away, he will stop looking. He will look for Daddy, Mommy and Jesus.  He knows that last one pretty well because the picture is above our mantle for the Holiday season especially and every time he sees it he wants me to address it. His eyes get big and he watches the picture and he looks at me, then he looks back at the picture. A few days ago we sang "I lived in Heaven" while in the living room and at the Savior's name Bentley looked up at the picture. Atta boy!

He likes a new song "Head shoulders knees and toes," and he has learned how to correctly clap, so now he can help do the motions of "Patty Cake"--though the rolling and the pulling are a bit confusing to him. He likes the songs "I love to see the Temple", "I hope they call me on a mission," "The army of Helaman" and "Love is spoken here" I think it's called, and we sing them at night when he is going to sleep. We read Good night moon every night and he won't take any other book. The other night, he even crawled to the bath, stood up and looked back at me like "Okay, I'm ready for a bath mom,".  Oh, and the Toilet is the coolest invention, in his opinion, he is fascinated by it! I can't believe he is getting so big. The Dr. was very impressed with Bentley's cognitive and physical development, said he was very advanced for his age. :) which is exciting and also kind of sad. haha. Slow down, Baby!

Okay, well, this week we are going to meet my brother's Girlfriend at a family dinner and we are having Thanksgiving at my Parent's, then it's three weeks away or 23 days until we come out to see you. We are excited! Have a great day! We're thinking of you!

Courtney, Bent and Jacob.